Idea Of Progress - Consumerism

IDEA OF PROGRESS : CONSUMERISM

PROBLEMATIQUE : How can people change their consumption habits ?

INTRODUCTION: I heard that song saying that we live in a man's world. I'd say we actually live in a money's one. This society is all about the money. People judge you by the clothes you wear and the shoes you buy. We go to school to have a job and get the money ; so we can show it off and buy fancy things.

As you all must know, there is a special day that excites people before christmas and it is black friday. For commercants, this is the best occasion to sell more and earn a huge amount of money. For us, consumers, it is the best occasion to go and grab some bargained things. When it's black friday, people are, in general, really excited and they spend a lot of money. This is why I decided to introduce the consumerism. Nowadays, a movement called « consumerism » is getting bigger and bigger. Consumerism is qualifying the fact to consume by consumers. It is about the consumption and the consumption is the using of goods. So those two words do not mean the same thing. The Consumerism seems to be a problem. People do not buy things to provide their own needs but because they need to impress others people and that is what Will Rogers describes in a quote of his : « too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like ». This obsession to show what we can buy makes me wonder: will people change their consumption habits someday?

PARTIE 1: Firstly, we can suppose that consumerism is a huge part of the American way of life. To them, shopping is a whole tradition. In fact, America owns the biggest malls such as Mall of America (which is super big) or Walmart. Shopping is like a tradition to them since they have a special day named « black Friday » where prices are discounted and people always go buy thing this day just after thanksgiving and a few weeks before christmas. They are so used to this tradition that even some people camp in front of malls so as to be the first in the mall to grab the best opportunities and bargained things. I saw a video with some persons who were telling about their own experience in camping in front of malls just for black Friday. They were in family, in tents, waiting for «best buy» to open their doors. I dont know what you think but that's absolutely crazy... even if they got great deals such as an HD television for 99 dollars. It's still crazy tho.

PARTIE 2: The problem with consumerism is that people can go insane and stop being humane. During black Friday, people are eager to enter in the malls in order to find the best opportunities like I’ve said it before. As a consequence, they just push anyone without thinking about what could happen next. One day, a man have been killed by frenzied shoppers who trampled him at Long Island Wal-Mart. Poor guy, his name was Jdimytai Damour and he was only 34 years old. Those crazy shoppers also injured a pregnant woman. She was eight months prego actually. This senseless behavior is the proof that their consumption habit is definitely not rational. It is a form of shopaholism. A shopaholic is a person who always feel the need to buy new things and so who is addicted to shopping. He could lose his mind if he was not able to

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